By JOHNNY PEPPO

Sports Editor

East St. John’s softball team suffered a heartbreaker Tuesday when they saw their 1-0 lead dissolve in the final two innings of play in the bi-district round of the 5-5A playoffs.

Tied up at 1-1 going into the seventh inning, the LadyCats were unable to manage a run against the Higgins defense, which committed no errors in the game. That meant that ESJ was playing for overtime in the bottom half of the inning, hoping to hold on defense and get another try on offense.

But Higgins seized the chance and pushed in a run to take the win and advance to the next round.

The LadyCats finish their season with their first playoff appearance in 13 years.